McMullin: Trump trying ‘to obscure the truth’ on Russian interference

Former Independent presidential candidate Evan McMullin argued Monday that President-elect Donald Trump is attempting to hide Russia’s role in his election.

.@realDonaldTrump is attempting to obscure the truth that Russia did act to influence our presidential election. https://t.co/Qrd5VL4Gi3

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

Much of what Russia did was in fact in plain sight. Russia’s cable channel in the US promoted Trump…

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

Russian internet trolls pretended (often poorly) to be Americans actively supported Trump while attacking those who didn’t…

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

Russia helped foment the American white nationalist/supremacist movement, which of course supported Trump…

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

McMullin, a former CIA operative who ran as a conservative alternative to Trump, added that Russian leader Vladimir Putin actively backed the businessman’s White House run.

Putin himself praised Trump and threatened World War III if Hillary Clinton was elected…

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

There should be little doubt that Putin desired Trump’s election & pursued that outcome, even based on publicly available information alone.

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

Trump may have won anyway, though, and we may never be able to quantify the impact of Russian efforts.

— Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) December 12, 2016

{mosads}A secret CIA assessment concluded that Russia intervened in the U.S. presidential election in an effort to help Trump win, according to reports from over the weekend.

Intelligence agencies have identified various individuals who helped the Russian government leak hacked documents from several Democratic sources to WikiLeaks.

Compromised sources included the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.

Trump said in an interview aired Sunday it is “ridiculous” Russia aided him, calling it “another excuse” Democrats are using to explain Clinton’s loss.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Monday called the CIA’s findings “disturbing,” adding the Senate Intelligence Committee should investigate further.